GUEST COLUMN
Why we had to stage a charity event in the legend’s honour
John Scully on Wilfred Benitez
WILFRED BENITEZ, at his best, was a phenomenon. His head movement, his ability to slip punches, his footwork are all legendary and in some moments they were aweinspiring. There have been some great natural boxers in history. Men who literally seemed as though they were born to be boxers and Wilfred was definitely one of them. Watching fellow legends like Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard miss punch after punch as they attempted to hit him in the head could literally send chills up and down a knowledgeable viewer’s spine.
But that elusiveness didn’t last. He started to get beaten up, and he’s in a bad way today. His agonising decline was one of those things that brings a fighter back to reality. Sometimes after so long in the game you can forget what it actually is, and what the negative possibilities are. To know that Wilfred is now so weak and largely helpless is a sobering thing for someone like me, who used to fight professionally and who now trains boxers. It shows clearly that we can never forget or lose sight of the fact that this is an unforgiving business we are in.
On June 3, in Harlem, New York City we held an event in Benitez’s honour at a special place called Monique’s Lounge that is situated right in the heart of Spanish Harlem. The likes of former world champions Mark Breland, Luis Collazo, Junior Jones, Iran Barkley, Angel Manfredy, Al Cole, and Donny Lalonde were all in attendance. One of Wilfred’s sisters was there, as was his brother. We hung out all day inside the club and outside on the sidewalk, just reminiscing, watching videos on the big screen of Wilfred. I introduced all the champions one by one, and had them come up and say a few words, and each one of them expressed how gifted Wilfred was an what an inspiration he was to them when they were young boxers in the game.
Both his brother and his sister cried as they stood on the small stage and expressed what their brother meant to them and how much they appreciated us all being there for him. It was a pretty emotional day in that regard. We also had a very special appearance by a former opponent of Benitez in the form of former welterweight contender Harold Weston. Harold got up and gave a nice speech about their two fights in the 1970s, and then we all watched a couple rounds of them in the ring together.
I’ve never actually met Benitez. In 2011 I was in Puerto Rico and I had a police officer from the island who was related to a friend of mine trying to help me find his house but it didn’t work out. I was told that you can actually just walk up to the house and if they are not busy they will let you in to see him and that was definitely my plan that day. It’s definitely one of my most regrettable missed opportunities in boxing that I didn’t get to meet him.
He will always rate as an all-time great because he did something that odds say will never be repeated, winning a world title at just 17 years of age and two world titles by the age of 20. He defeated a champion in Antonio Cervantes when he wasn’t even old enough to be out of high school, and that is something that is one of the very first great feats I ever heard about when I first started boxing as a kid.
As a legitimate three-time world champion and someone who beat the likes of Cervantes, Carlos Palomino and Roberto Duran, he inspired many future top boxers and should never be forgotten. You cannot mention the great defensive fighters in history, from Willie Pep to Floyd Mayweather Jnr, without including Wilfred Benitez as a leading figure in the discussion.
TO KNOW THAT WILFRED IS NOW SO WEAK AND HELPLESS IS A SOBERING THING